


Out to take a breath of cool air

by SkekLa



Series: A thousand years have passed [7]
Category: The Dark Crystal (1982)
Genre: Gen, Snippet, just some character interaction, one of those stories where nothing actually happens XD, petty and somewhat relatable, skeksis being just lazy, skeksis idle time, what do skeksis do when they just want to kill time?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-06
Updated: 2020-02-06
Packaged: 2021-02-28 01:28:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,086
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22585633
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SkekLa/pseuds/SkekLa
Summary: Just a little story about skeksis idle time!I´m one of those rare people who thinks it´s actually very fun to get an insight of those moments where "monsters" are "just people" and get to peek at what ever said "monsters" do when they have a bit of free time.Do they just talk? walk? Indulge into what activities? Would "monsters" be literally evil and schemy all the time, or are they, deep down, just persons with their own thoughts and emotions?That kind of idea was what spawned this small tale: It´s been written rather long ago, I just had never given a thought to post it before (it had also been originally written in Spanish, so I had to translate it in order to upload it here where most of the community wouldn´t be able to read it otherwise ^^So...here you go! a small snippet featuring my ideas about what idle time might sometimes look like for the skeksis (this obviously takes place at my AU, if anything sounds inconsistent to canon you know why that is ^^ )
Series: A thousand years have passed [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1518779
Kudos: 4





	Out to take a breath of cool air

**Author's Note:**

> A.N:  
> Please keep in mind that these fanfictions are meant to take place in an Alternate Universe where certain things might differ from canon. Albeit, this is heavily based off the classic Dark Crystal movie (1982) and some of the canon and characterisations might sound off to anyone who´s not watched the movie (given how certain things were retconned and/or changed by the recent Netflix series)  
> All the canon lore and recogniseable characterisations for canon characters within this fic are based off the classic movie and its associated 80´s book lore and/or Legends of the Dark Crystal (2007). *Also referencing Brian Froud´s Creation Myths (2011)concerning the fate of two skeksis right after the splitting*
> 
> The rest of what´s seen at my fanworks is just personal headcanon.

There was a warm fragrance within the afternoon breeze that day.  
Last sun, vaguely purple, hung melancholically in the sky, dyeing it with soft hues of orange and gold. 

Two tall figures decked in ellaborate and heavy jewel-incrusted robes were leaning against one of the Crystal Castle´s western verandas.

-“This is my favorite time of day” warbled Gourmand skekAyuk with evidente glee, opening his mouth as wide as it was to carelessly give out a hearty yawn. –“Some nice warm wind, nothing to do...except digesting last dinner! He,he,he…”- 

Right by his side, the Illustrator smiled at the comment, narrowing her eyes to shield herself from the last sunbeams, which were dancing right between her beak and forehead, mottled and dotted by the shade of the pointy towers that rose behind them, looming over the veranda. 

-“You´re right, Gourmand. Sunset just has to be one of the most pleasant times of day. Look at all those colours!...Just by standing here and watching the sky, I feel inspired to mix some new inks and try to steal those colours for my next works-…”-

The Gourmand took a grubby, ring-ladden hand to his bloated chin, scratching himself with delight. –“Eh, you worry too much, skekLa. Why don´t you just enjoy a little?! Give yourself time to…I don´t know, to _not_ be thinking about things, and colours and paints all the time…-“ 

The Illustrator gave a jaded laugh. –“Yes, I suppose I should relax, right?...Feels like my job would always chase after me, no matter where I go!…”-

-“Exactly!”- Replied the Gourmand, his throat gurgling with a genuine, low cackle. –“Just…relax, have some rest… Stop thinking so much! Take a moment to just go out and catch a breath of cool air!

Allowing her eyes to close for a moment, skekLa bent a little further, with one arm hanging lazily over the edge of the veranda. Lowering her head, she allowed her chin to rest over a bent arm, and reclined all her weight against the stone wall.   
For a brief instant, everything became an odd, welcoming peace. A strange silence that was scarcely broken by the distant sound of wild creatures prowling somewhere down there, beyond the barren lands surrounding the castle. The old skeksis could almost imagine them (Probably some fizzgig, maybe one or two Krikkids rising their croaking love songs- perhaps even a landstrider leading their calves toward a safe spot to spend the night.)  
So much calm was starting to make her feel sleepy.

-“Hmmmm… Good afternoon, allies. You both look happy and refined today… I wonder- is there room for me at this small pleasant meeting…?”-  
Opening just one eye, the Illustrator watched as skekSil, the Chamberlain took a place next to them, leaning his arms and chest comfortably against the veranda even before they replied.   
-“Resting out here for a while, Hmmm?”- pointed the skeksis in red, quirking his head with a small, accomplice smile. –“It´s always good to allow one´s mind some pause, Hmmmm?...well-rested brains work better and faster later, when one needs them most.”-

Smiling wide, the Illustrator yawned by the low and answered, taking the Gourmand´s former words as her own: -“´Sil, you worry too much. Just relax, and take a break. Allow yourself a nice breath of cool air!”-  
Right reside her skekAyuk, noticing the shameless, playfully preachy impersonation skekLa had just made of him, laughed hearthily. 

The three skeksis remained likewise; just idling and sharing some random, self-indulgent talk, lazily reclined against the wall until the shades of night began to drape the sky in darkness, and the first stars appeared.  
It was then that a formal, pompous voice suddenly called out from the door that gave way to the veranda, right behind the three idle allies.  
-“Mylord Chamberlain, How fortunate I am to finally find you!...I had been looking for you _everywhere_ : His most excellent Lordship, Emperor skekSo, wishes to meet you and discuss a part of the most recent paperwork concerning the tribute crops.”-

SkekSil opened his eyes, rolling them in a sarcastic expression of annoyment that had his two companions struggling to stifle a laugh.   
-“Hmmmm, Talsin, my most loyal helper! I imagined not even I, your Lord and Master, could ellude your keen eyes for too long, Hmm?...”-

The gelfling made a little reverence with his head. A cascade of long, white hair fluttered around his sharp features.   
-“I´m merely doing my job, Mylord. Seems like the matter is important. I thought I heard that His Most regal Excellency is concerned about the scarce tributes sent by that one village set within the limits of the Black forest. I believe its name is Sami Thicket?...”-

Nodding with agreement, the Chamberlain rose as tall as he was, stretching idly for a moment, to then immediately regain his composture and follow the gelfling down the hall. –“Hmmmm…Yes, it is Sami thicket, no doubt. They may have problems with the crops so they sent meager tributes. We will have to do something, figure it out…”-

Turning his head one last time to greet his allies, skekSil made a small head-obeissance to the other two skeksis whom had stayed put, half-reclined against the veranda. Before he had stepped out of the long balcony, his wheedling voice murmured, almost casually –“See you both later at our usual meeting place, Hmmmm? Gourmand…Ilustrator...”-   
Seconds later, his crooked figure had disappeared between the shadows of the hallway beyond the door. 

The Gourmand began to scratch his chin again. This time, the gesture seemed pensive.   
–“Mmm. If the Sami Thicket gelfling give no tribute…that´d be like… four villages that don´t contribute?...We´ll starve!”-

SkekLa frowned, tilting her head backwards with a sneer . –“Don´t you say such things, Gourmand! Nothing is going to change, surely the tributes coming from all other villages and the podlings towns will be more than enough to satisfy us! Besides, the nebries skekNa is Keeping on those pens down in the catacombs are breeding successfully, skektek is seeing to it himself! Those will provide enough meat for us all to stuff ourselves!.”-

The Gourmand gave her a sleepy, sidewards glare. He still looked concerned.  
–“I hope you´re right…otherwise, we´re going to have a bad time. What if we end up having to Hunt for food, and we…what if we´d have to go live in the forest, in some stinky hut, like the Hunter?! Just imagine...! ”-

SkekLa cringed at the idea. However, she shrugged at skekAyuk and defiantly replied: -“Well then!...it´s an unlikely scenario, but--who knows? Perhaps that wouldn´t be so horrible. SkekMal always looked healthy and strong enough, and I rather much envy his agility...”- Bending her crippled leg, she groaned with contempt -“I wish I could run like _he_ does.”- 

SkekAyuk arched his brow, surprised at her answer.   
-“Really?...Whatever. But I still think that what _I_ want is to remain right here. I would choose _this_ anyday!. Our strong, big castle to live in...my kitchen, where I can make my slaves Cook hundreds of delicious meals...excellent food, and wine, and music- a soft, comfortable bed to lay myself down at night!: for me, there is no other life than _this one_ , and I want to enjoy it forever! I´m happy with things the way they are.”-

SkekLa nodded. –“Well...yes. You´re probably right, Gourmand. None of us does actually know any other life than this…we´re alright here. Life _is_ good, and with the hope that it may last forever…who would actually want things to change?...” 

-“The Hunter, the Conqueror and the Captain might want things to change, though.-“ - murmured the corpulent Gourmand, as he watched the stars with a mixture of indolence and pensiveness.   
-“The Hunt is everything for skekMal. SkekSa wouldn´t get off her ship for all the richess of Thra, and skekGra seems more than happy living in his makeshift tents, all surrounded by his gelfling troop, looking for new lands to conquer…heh. I guess each one of us is…just where we were meant to be. That´s why it worries me, you know?...If we run short with food…things could change. There would be problems. We Could no Langer just enjoy life as it is right now and…and…well, I happen to _really_ enjoy this life the way it is. I _don´t want_ things to change. “-

-“That doesn´t really depend on whatever we want, Gourmand...”- murmured skekLa, genuinely relating to the feelings skekAyuk had spoken of. In more than a sense, they were her own, as well. She decided that the best thing would be to try and soothe her ally, so she smiled again, as carelessly as she could manage to pretend she felt.  
-“Everyhting´s going to be alright! If there´s anyone in Thra who´s able to strike a deal with the gelfling that will work in our favor, that is our Chamberlain. Come on, you know him as well as I do!: he has a truly gifted tongue, he will surely think of something to get us all out of any hard time...!”-

-“Mylord, Mylord, I´ve found them!”-  
The high-pitched voice of a gelfling courtier tore the serene nightly air, making both skeksis jump up with a start.   
-“Oh _thank Thra!_ Good job, Leesi, darling, that´s why I _always_ say you´re the smartest gelfling in all the castle! Do remind me to save some nice sweetsap coated fruit for you after dinner, as a reward for your efforts!”-  
It was skekEkt. He had stormed into the veranda like an explosion of colorful silk and dangling pearls, preceded by his assistant- a thin blonde gelfling of refined, uptight appearance, who looked just as carefully madeup and vain as her Master. 

-“ _What_ are you two doing up here?! Do you have _any idea_ what time it is?! Illustrator, the Scrollkeeper spent _hours_ bothering me, asking where you were!! Like I should know! I had to literally shove him out of my atelier so I could keep working on that new ruffled collar I´m doing for the Treasurer! And _YOU_ , skekAyuk, _you_ should be preparing the menu for tonight! What _ever_ are we supposed to eat if you don´t instruct those podlings of yours? I´ll tell you what. They won´t know what to cook, or even worse, they´ll end up having to _improvise_ and we´ll end up eating some of the horrible disgusting things _they_ like! Ooooghhh!” –

The neverending, shrill storm of words and squeaks coming out of skekEkt´s beak was more than enough to completely overwhelm the other two skeksis, and even had an effect on his own assistant, who flattened her ears in bewilderment, stepping back to shield herself with the shadows and hide her loss of composture.

-“SkekEkt…Alright…we´re going…Don´t be fussy like that...”- Said the Gourmand in the most affable tone he could muster, making a placating gesture with his flabby hands when the Ornamentalist finally stopped squealing. 

-“We were just trying to rest for a moment...I regret that skekOk had to be so dense and all, but…you know how he is!”- sentenced skekLa, parting from the wall to limp toward the door. –“I´ll go right now, to see what he wanted, it´s probably just another knotwork-frame for some page, he´s always making a rattle over the silliest things…”- 

-“And there goes my little break: first, when everything was quite nice, that annoying gelfling of the Chamberlain´s comes to fetch him, and now this.”- mumbled the Gourmand between his teeth, effortly straightening his heavy bulk to then waddle following the Illustrator into the hall .   
-“WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY TO ME?!”- Screeched the Ornamentalist, offended once again, as he flailed his arms in a reaction as theatrical as his makeup. 

The voices of the three skeksis rang through the hallway creating raspy, hoarse echoes, to then finally fade when their owners reached the inner chambers.

Leesi, who had been left behind- completely forgotten amidst the confusion- looked upwards for a fleeting moment, smiling at the stars.   
Then, she quickly trotted hallway down, following the same path her Master and the other two Crystal Lords had taken.   
The night was young, dinner time was at hand, and there was no time to lose!

**Author's Note:**

> ***Disclaimer: *** All publicly recognizable characters, settings, all Dark Crystal canon characters and events etc. are the property of their respective owners (Brian Froud, Jim Henson and everyone who worked in the making of the Dark Crystal). The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author (SkekLa) is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.****


End file.
